The
main purpose of the National Accounts report is to provide in
a single publication a compilation of statistics for the CARICOM
region covering the economic conditions and performance as reflected
in the Gross Domestic Product. Most of
the data presented were submitted by the National Statistical
Offices or were extracted from national and/or sub-regional reports.
More specifically the report presents:

the
total real GDP of CARICOM at constant prices;

the
growth rates of GDP;

the
industry profile of each country’s GDP at current and
constant prices;

the
profile by expenditure components of GDP

Key
national account aggregates for selected countries

The report
presents data in Eastern Caribbean dollars ($EC) and in national
currency at constant and current prices. Due to problems
associated with the official changes in the exchange rates
to the $EC data on percentage changes at current prices are
presented only in national currency. A few key selected summary
statistics such as per capita GDP and the summary of GDP for
all Member States are also presented in United States dollars
($US).

The national account data presented in this report uses the
data available from the national statistical offices as an
authoritative source of information. In specific cases, countries
will flag preliminary or crude estimates usually for the latest
available years. In other instances, the identification
of excessively high changes in variables, irregular fluctuations,
lack of agreement of identical country totals (GDP by
expenditure and industry), valuation problems and other similar
irregularities are noted in the course of the evaluation and
analysis of the data at the CARICOM level. In some cases,
however, there are no ready short-term solutions to ascertain
whether the outlying values are anomalies or not. Further
analysis and use of the data will undoubtedly highlight more
questions that need to be addressed.